Living Proof

Recently, I've encountered a few threads over on Facebook which had the ol' heated debate of, "to take the flu vaccine or not". Personally, I don't judge people based on their choice, but I do wonder why most people don't look into the ingredients of the flu vaccine. They're probably the same people who don't look at the ingredients listed in their boxed/packaged and canned foods, or just the people who eat that kind of garbage. Screw it, right? As long as you don't get sick for a week in the winter, all is well, even if you start to suffer from neurological disorders, Alzheimer's or respiratory problems. Those "symptoms" and disorders are just what life dealt you, right? The hardcore fact is: we're all gonna die someday, and many people feel that this is just one stepping stone into feeling better - by avoiding the flu. I remember years ago when I was a naive girl in her twenties working at IBM and trying so hard not to get sic...

To the best of my ability, I try my hardest to stay away from any doctor offices or hospitals from October to April because that's when I get sick the most. Let's face it - that's when most people get sick the most. Even with all my effort, it seems pointless because I also take my mom to doctor appointments as well. Her appointments don't require much "family care practice" - it's more rheumatologists, pediatrists, cardiologists and of course, ophthalmologists with bad cases of halitosis. "Why doesn't he pop a breath mint before examining his patients," Mom complains, as she stumbles out of his office, dizzy from holding in her breath the whole time. But that's not the point --- I am plagued with sick people in these "non-sick" (thought-to-be) places. Last night, I'm sitting in the waiting room while Mom was getting blood work done by her rheumatologist. She has gout, so she has to check her levels every so often. As I...

Years ago, I remember getting rejected for the flu shot. The doctor would always say that it was only for young children, elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. I pointed out that I had asthma to which always threw me straight into the hospital once the flu hit. So they included me in the "chronic illness" category. While I never got the flu again after the shot, I stopped taking the shot after doing research on it. Between side effects, long term effects as well as not even being remotely effective due to "educated guesswork" to determine which strain of the flu "may" be hitting the nation --- I was out. Let the young and elderly have the shot. I never got the flu after that until the H1N1 hit us. I suffered through it, but had comfort in knowing I didn't have those awful chemicals in my system.  Read through some of the ingredients listed that's in the flu vaccine: "Formaldehyde, mercury, aluminum, thimerosal, animal byp...

Let me just say one thing before I start to rant: I give so much credit for those who work in the medical field, whether you're an x-ray tech, nurse, doctor or pharmacist --- you are exposed to so much shit. Okay, that was my OCD talking. Yesterday, I collapsed onto the bathroom floor, pants halfway down and all, because I was too weak to actually get up. I had called Mad earlier to tell her to bring me to the ER. My dog was scratching the door crying because she knew something was wrong. I was severely dehydrated and weak. I really didn't know how I was going to make a 30 minute (yes 30 effing minutes) to the hospital when I was umm, going every 10 minutes, but thankfully I made it just in time. When I got to the receptionist counter while Mad was trying to hold me up, the woman looked at me and said, "Stomach virus?" I didn't say a word. How did she know? "Wait right there, all rooms are taken up by the same exact thing." Immediately my OCD kicks i...

For the past couple of days, I've been fighting a helluva' cold. I try to do things to prevent the onset of a cold, but only so much can do the trick. I was told by a friend from Japan and my own sister who visited the country that if you drink a couple of full bodied beers along with a high protein meal, it should ward off any evil. Although it helped for that remaining evening, I found myself sniffling, coughing with the occasional "my head's gonna pop off" feeling. Yesterday morning while lying in bed with a million tissues surrounding me, the news stated, "This year is going to be one of the worst flu seasons ever!" (How many times have you heard that before?) I can pull up every single year's dialogue on the flu season's "worst year" and it would be...every year. When the H1N1 virus hit us a few years back, I was alarmed to hear how harmful that vaccine was alone. Every single year, I would rush off to the doctor's to get my...